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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. press — a publisher
  4. file — a tool
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. file — a document
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. tube — a container
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. foot — a measure
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. club — a group
  18. tear — to rip
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chair — a leader
  22. press — to push
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. press — newspapers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com